thinking of moving to tucson, but I have a bug phobia (scorpions, live in)

[Saguarogirl507]

Oh Marci1210, thanks for the good laugh first thing this AM! That is me as well! Standing on the chair screaming. In fact even though I adore lizards, I did get a shock the first time I saw the one who lives on my porch! He was huge! In Florida our lizards were tiny. But keep the lizards as they eat bugs!!!!

[Saguarogirl507]

I forgot to ask, what does the baking soda do? I seem to remember seeing that on here before but I forgot the reason.

[flyboytampabay]

Lived in Arizona and Florida.... You wanna see bugs come to Florida. They are not a problem in AZ. Even in Florida with regular spraying, not a problem.

[jlawrence01]

The ONLY bugs that I fear in AZ are termites. In general, pretty much every home has had them to some extent.

[DebBho]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

My first summer, I spent it standing on a chair and screaming; the second summer on the chair, but trying to whack some bugs, third summer, on the floor stepping on bugs and using 4-5 cans of raid in my bedroom after I found the vinegaroon in my bed, by the fourth summer, it was "Oh, crap, a cockroach...splat."

Priceless! Hahaha!

[DebBho]

I, too, am a big fat wuss when it comes to creepy crawlies. I am going to tell you EXACTLY what I've dealt with since I moved here from practically bug-free Colorado two years ago. In 2013, I battled two to four cockroaches in the house a week between the end of June and mid-August. (To be fair, my female cat was the one who went to battle - she has radar for those things!) I also encountered two or three scorpions in the house - one HUGE, one teensy and one mid-sized one. In 2014, the cockroaches started coming from the drains in mid-May and stopped by the end of June. And there seemed to be fewer each week than there had been the prior year. Also found a couple more scorpions in the house. This year, the roaches started coming up in late April or early May and stopped late May or early June and my wonderful attack cat zeroed in on a couple of scorpions as well.

As for outside, the Palo Verde beetles are TERRIFYING! My first encounter with one was a few weeks after we bought our house and I was laying on the chaise by the pool. A humongous PVB started dive-bombing me relentlessly - zooming through the air from one side of the yard to the other and diving to within inches of my head on each pass. I freaked out and ran inside (naturally!) and the SOB actually started trying to get at me inside the sliding glass door! I'm deadly serious! It was like something out of a horror movie! Luckily, they only live above ground for a month or so every summer, and their numbers are relatively minor. We also had a big problem with cockroaches (not the huge ones that come up through the drains, but every bit as disgusting or moreso because there was an army of them) for a few weeks in our back yard a month ago. The culprit was a leak in our sprinkler system that blew a hole down into the ground where they migrated. When my husband went to repair the line, and the hole filled with water, they streamed out in droves. Ugh! Other than that, you'll see a lot of those red beetles and crickets outside.

LIZARDS ARE YOUR FRIENDS!!! I am utterly appalled at the poster who thought it was clever to pulverize one in her garbage disposal! I wish my cats would allow lizards to co-exist in the house, but I've only seen one inside and I suspect it's because the cats aren't friendly to them.

Finally, seriously, GET A CAT! I've never had to actually physically kill any of the cockroaches who have gotten in the house. My cat disables them, then I spray them down well with Home Defense, suck them up in the vacuum cleaner and tape the hose opening shut afterwards for good measure.

[DebBho]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

The ONLY bugs that I fear in AZ are termites. In general, pretty much every home has had them to some extent.

I just had a recurrence of these after two years and want to point out that most exterminators around town offer a contractual deal where you pay a few hundred bucks if you have an infestation, but then you can sign up for a yearly inspection, with treatment covered for that price as well if they recur.

[bongo_x]

I don’t know Vinegaroons, but if they eat cockroaches and scorpions I will build them a home and greet them by name. Those are the only things that bother me. My wife and I can’t be bothered to even move a spider unless it’s dropping right on us. We’ve explained the rules to them but sometimes they forget.

[Marcy1210]

Originally Posted by bongo_x

I don’t know Vinegaroons, but if they eat cockroaches and scorpions I will build them a home and greet them by name. Those are the only things that bother me. My wife and I can’t be bothered to even move a spider unless it’s dropping right on us. We’ve explained the rules to them but sometimes they forget.

A vinegaroon is an arachnid also called a WhipTailed Scorpion, but it's not a scorpion. It's an arachnid that looks like one. They're basically harmless, but scary as hell looking. When they're scared, they give off a spray or scent that smells like vinegar and stings the victim's eyes. Here's a vinegaroon killing a cockroach. This is a small cockroach, either an Oriental or a German. The German ones are the small ones found in restaurants or dirty kitchens. The Oriental ones are a little bigger, but only about 1/2 the size of the American cockroach...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PiIuhqC7-8

[flyboytampabay]

I spray my own house. I use Demand or Demon. I can get Demon from the feed store. And Demand on line or from a place that sells professional spray for pest companies. No bugs at all